Great North Run in 8 days - today pulled calf muscle - help needed urgently

[Vic]

I hope I am posting this in the right place. If not I apologise and hope a moderator will move it to where it should be.

I need help. It may sound trivial but it's actually quite a big deal to me.

For the last 8 months I have been training for The Great North Run - a half marathon taking place in Newcastle, UK next Sunday. In all those months I never had an injury. I have run the full distance already and today was to be my last maintenance run - an easy 4 miles on a straight, flat road.

Until 3.9 miles the run went well. I felt good and ready for next Sunday. Then a pain ripped through my right calf muscle and I had to limp to my car.

I am running for charity and people have sponsored me. I have to do this run.

I am looking for any help and advice from anyone who might know the best way to deal with this injury. I'm aware of the usual routes like hot and cold compresses, rest, etc etc. I am hoping someone in this community will have some information that's not found generally in the mainstream. If such information exists it will be here.

I can't understand why this injury happened. I perfected my running technique (chirunning - it's superb) and I didn't trip up or twist my foot, land on the wrong part of my foot, or anything like that.

Anyway, I would appreciate any and all information that might get me over this obstacle. Can a pulled calf muscle heal in a week? If so how?

Many thanks.

 

[Laura]

Kinesio taping.

Link to the manual which will have the taping pattern. http://laura-knight-jadczyk.com/Taping.djvu Get the tape on amazon.uk and follow directions.

 

[mada85]

You could try homeopathic arnica. Do you have any at home? You can get 6c (and 30c I believe, but 6c is fine - the numbers refer to the potency) from Boots or Holland and Barrett. Miranda Castro says of arnica in relation to sprains:

Symptoms: Pains: sore; bruised.
Causes: childbirth; over-exertion.
Arnica is for strained muscles caused by over-exertion - or from some unusual or unexpected exercise. The pains are a bruised feeling and sore and are not better for moving about. (If the pains are stiff and are better for moving about, albeit temporarily, then Rhus toxicodendron is called for.) Jetlag can produce this feeling and if it does Arnica will help.

You may be familiar with how to take homeopathic remedies, but just in case you're not: have nothing in the mouth except water for 20 minutes before and after you take the tablet. Coffee and strong flavours like mint toothpaste are generally thought to negate the effects of homeopathics. Take one tablet at a time (ignore what it says on the little container). Let it dissolve under the tongue.

Arnica is a remedy with very few personality indicators (some homeopathic remedies are extremely specific) and is very safe to use. People needing arnica will usually feel sore or bruised and will not want to be touched or jarred.

I would try taking one arnica 6c every 1-2 hours. If there is no improvement after 6 doses then arnica is probably not the right remedy. If there is some improvement, continue taking it but change the dosage frequency to one tablet four times a day. Once there is a marked improvement - a strong positive reaction - then you should stop taking the remedy.

As an example of the effectiveness of arnica, a few years ago I slammed my kneecap into the oven door handle so hard I thought I'd fractured it. The bruise started swelling before my eyes. This was about three hours before I went to bed. I took one arnica 6c every 10 minutes until bedtime. Slept really well, woke and took one more at 3am, then woke again feeling well rested at 6am. There was no sign of a bruise or swelling on my knee, no stiffness or pain and no return of symptoms.

 

[Lilou]

DMSO is what athletes use to repair torn/pulled muscles. It works very quickly. If you can get a hold of DMSO 99.9% pure, you will need to dilute it with DISTILLED water (7 parts DMSO/3 parts water). If you cannot find it locally, it is sold on Amazon.

Clean the area first with soap and water and dry it. Apply the diluted DMSO with a cotton ball, painting it on, 2 to 3 times a day and you should be right as rain within a week.

Good luck, Vic.

 

[Carl]

DMSO is what athletes use to repair torn/pulled muscles. It works very quickly. If you can get a hold of DMSO 99.9% pure, you will need to dilute it with DISTILLED water (7 parts DMSO/3 parts water). If you cannot find it locally, it is sold on Amazon.

Clean the area first with soap and water and dry it. Apply the diluted DMSO with a cotton ball, painting it on, 2 to 3 times a day and you should be right as rain within a week.

Good luck, Vic.

Yes. Or ebay.co.uk, and search for DMSO gel, the stuff is awesome.

Also magnesium oil can help a lot with pains, and can be bought in spray bottles or made using water and magnesium chloride flakes.

 

[Alana]

DMSO is what athletes use to repair torn/pulled muscles. It works very quickly. If you can get a hold of DMSO 99.9% pure, you will need to dilute it with DISTILLED water (7 parts DMSO/3 parts water). If you cannot find it locally, it is sold on Amazon.

Clean the area first with soap and water and dry it. Apply the diluted DMSO with a cotton ball, painting it on, 2 to 3 times a day and you should be right as rain within a week.

Good luck, Vic.

Yes. Or ebay.co.uk, and search for DMSO gel, the stuff is awesome.

Also magnesium oil can help a lot with pains, and can be bought in spray bottles or made using water and magnesium chloride flakes.

AND, you can use the DMSO along with the magnesium gel, and when the area dries, you can do the taping. I've done this for my lower back, it worked wonders. Good luck!

 

[Vic]

Kinesio taping.

Link to the manual which will have the taping pattern. http://laura-knight-jadczyk.com/Taping.djvu Get the tape on amazon.uk and follow directions.

You wonderful people, thank you so much. I'm going to read about the taping, Laura, and then go to Amazon now for the tape and DMSO. Luckily I bought a water distiller this week.

I knew you would come through. This is a different world :)

 

[Renaissance]

You could try homeopathic arnica. Do you have any at home? You can get 6c (and 30c I believe, but 6c is fine - the numbers refer to the potency) from Boots or Holland and Barrett. Miranda Castro says of arnica in relation to sprains:

Massaging arnica oil into the muscle is also very effective.

In addition to the taping, DMSA and Magnesium oil, you may want to check out a comfrey compress. There's a thread on comfrey here. You just want to make sure you use the DMSO and whatever other application at different times since DMSO is a powerful binder and should be used by itself.

 

[Jasmine]

Hi Vic,

Sorry to hear about your leg. Looks like you're in good hands with all the great suggestions above. I have a feeling you're worried about letting your sponsors down...that's natural, but I doubt anybody will hold it against you. Kodos for training so hard and participating to raise money for charity! You sound prepared and determined. I have a feeling you're going to do just fine weather you run, walk, or limp. Sometimes those things heal rather quickly. Wishing you all the best next Sunday!

 

[Vic]

Kinesio tape, DMSO, Magnesium Oil, and Arneca 30c all ordered express delivery. I'll read up on the comfrey press,and I think I have seen that locally so might be able to get tomorrow or Monday.

Thanks again to everyone for your help and advice :D

P.S. Thanks Jasmine. You are right, I'll do it even if I have to limp all the way. Somehow though I don't think I'm going to have to do that

 

[Rich]

Hi Vic,

Sorry to hear about your leg. Looks like you're in good hands with all the great suggestions above. I have a feeling you're worried about letting your sponsors down...that's natural, but I doubt anybody will hold it against you. Kodos for training so hard and participating to raise money for charity! You sound prepared and determined. I have a feeling you're going to do just fine weather you run, walk, or limp. Sometimes those things heal rather quickly. Wishing you all the best next Sunday!

I agree with Jasmine here and hope you're able to recover in time. If not, postponing your run may prevent further injury. If it comes to it you could email your sponsors, tell them about your injury and agree to independently run the distance at a later date when you've recovered fully - or enter another local event. It wouldn't be the big one you're excited about but I'm sure they'd understand. Good luck!

 

[Carl]

Hi Vic,

Sorry to hear about your leg. Looks like you're in good hands with all the great suggestions above. I have a feeling you're worried about letting your sponsors down...that's natural, but I doubt anybody will hold it against you. Kodos for training so hard and participating to raise money for charity! You sound prepared and determined. I have a feeling you're going to do just fine weather you run, walk, or limp. Sometimes those things heal rather quickly. Wishing you all the best next Sunday!

I agree with Jasmine here and hope you're able to recover in time. If not, postponing your run may prevent further injury. If it comes to it you could email your sponsors, tell them about your injury and agree to independently run the distance at a later date when you've recovered fully - or enter another local event. It wouldn't be the big one you're excited about but I'm sure they'd understand. Good luck!

I have to agree here Vic, if you don't feel up for it then your health is more important than the expectations of others, and pushing on could cause further damage. I hope you are able to recover in time and enjoy the run :)

 

[Vic]

Thanks Pob and Carlisle. I know you are right in terms of long term, but I'm absolutely focussed on running on Sunday. If my health issue was of a more serious nature like a heart problem then I would reconsider. But it looks like the worst that can happen is a slow, painful run and then a lengthy recovery period. I may live to regret these words, I know. But I can't conceive of not running this event, and Iam already using some of the products that have been recommended to me in this thread. I managed to get some magnesium gel and homeopathic Arnica in the city this morning. I'll also be hitting the Comfrey bushes in our area later today. Kinesio tape, DMSO etc are all due for delivery from amazon.co.uk by tomorrow, but we'll wait and see on that one :/

I am aware of the underlying 'self importance' issue in my attitude, and I'm sort of saying to my self - after the Great North Run I will work all out to lose the self importance, aswell as go on the strict Paleo/Ketogenic diet -

This will be the 33rd Great North Run. I wonder if the significance will express itself.

 

[Ariadna]

Hi Vic
In my humble opinion, I think you should check the extent of your injury. I think you may have a hamstring muscle or strain (not sure if it is the correct term). If it were the case, I hope not, you would need more time to rest. I think so.
Approximately a year and half ago I had a torn right deltoid, without any extra effort, just get off the couch. This coincided with a difficult period, which opened my awareness to other realities after reading Laura's books.
Again, four months ago, I had the same problem in the left deltoid, coinciding with the opening of the new knowledge of diet and nutrition.

Good Luck! :)

 

[Renaissance]

after the Great North Run I will work all out to lose the self importance, aswell as go on the strict Paleo/Ketogenic diet -

Actually, if I were in your shoes I'd cut out any inflammatory foods right away. My thinking is that it should help the healing process to not have more inflammation than the injury needs. This includes gluten, dairy, nightshades, nuts and sugar. I actually had my back seize up for several days just from eating cashews (I had a previous injury at the inflamed area).

I think Ariadna's suggestion of getting your injury checked out is also a good idea. It's easy to say 'I'll deal with it later', and it doesn't hurt to better understand your situation.